Sparkin Blog

SPARKIN is an executive recruitment agency with a difference. We care more about your optimum fit than about making a placement! We are focused on aiding and abetting your career progression and optimization. Our primary target audience is strategic planners of all persuasion. We work with allies in key centers in the United States and around the globe. Our experience is based around the importance of relationships and becoming an expert at building them and through them attaining personal and career goals.

Almost like being fired at some stage of you career is a ‘right of passage,’ experiencing excessive stress is also something most of us face. We need to collectively support those at this stage. Why?

Because it could easily be you. However calm your life journey is, if placed under sustained and excessive stress, ‘you’ may well at some stage experience adverse mental health and in the worst cases, breakdown.

One mid-level creative strategist I spoke with recently, who works for a large advertising agency, described both a lack of organizational preparedness for her hiring or management support once she’d been hired. The irony is that this is someone that is extremely capable. As she explained, after starting her job she quickly became trusted to take on extra work and responsibility, initially welcoming it but then after it happened a number of times, engulfing her initial job description but with no additional support, she felt increasingly helpless. She had tried to communicate but no one appeared to be listening. The effect was someone with no prior ‘mental’ health issues, becoming anxious, seriously starting to doubt themselves, struggling to get their work done each day. This is far from uncommon.

Positive mental health is defined as ‘Coping with normal stresses and having psychological well-being.’ Fair enough, but what are normal stresses? And, what is psychological well-being? A simple answer might be that whatever your challenges, if you feel in control, even though under pressure, you are functioning effectively and your behavior is rational.

A 2018 Forbes Survey reported that 48% of interviewees experienced mental health problems. While another survey highlighting the effects of sustained mental stress, found that 29% of employees had shouted at their cohorts because of stress! (Tinypulse, 2016).

The American Institute of Stress cited the main causes of stress in the workplace listed: 46% workload, 28% people issues, 20% work/life balance and 6% lack of job security. Other factors certainly causing extreme frustration included: Low wages, lack of personal development and having no say/not being listened to and worse, being mistreated.

I should state, I am ‘not’ a mental health expert but what lead me to write this article is regular conversations with extremely stressed individuals, either desperate to make their current situations better if not to completely escape them. I have also experienced what I am writing about remembering as a young man, having after months of intense pressure at work walking out of my office, teary eyed. I’m still embarrassed as I think about this! But, people shouldn’t be!

On what appears to be ever increasing pressure on businesses and employees, what seems immediately evident is this: As an employee, if you’ve given management and/or HR repeated opportunity to understand your situation and nothing has changed, why put up with this? If those with the authority and ability to change things haven’t, even when understanding your situation, then either they can’t or don’t want to do anything differently and you must draw your own conclusions. Why would you remain an employee in an agency where you are treated this way?

The corporate answer to mental health is, ‘it’s complex’ and to be fair, it is. There are often many factors in play. Then again if you want to set individuals up to be the best they can be for themselves and the agency, it isn’t complex at all! It’s a matter of priorities and most important, effective communication and resource deployment. This is down to management.

Critically, whatever the cause of high stress levels, if not checked the positive psychology of individuals becomes vulnerable to feelings of failure in absolute or relative terms.

How to stay ahead of the Curve – Positive Mental Heath – Some Steps We Can All Take

At Work

1. ‘Never’ feel trapped. However much the money is needed, or you fear not getting another job, or fear the recriminations from leaving the job or how bad leaving might look on your resume, ‘if the stress level in your work situation is out of control’ and having spoken to others (boss/HR/mentor/peers) things are not changing, then understand, there are other jobs! Your psychology is number one priority. Be prepared to walk.

2. Talk – Stay ahead of the stress – Many of those I talk with, simply want to be heard. More important, aim to communicate with those that have the wherewithal to redress the causes of your stress. Let your boss know what’s happening/how you’re feeling – Many of us don’t do this either because this communicates weakness and perhaps a sense of failure, or because you don’t think anything will change – The realty is, nothing can change if those with the authority don’t know what you’re going through.

3. Let someone else know – If you can’t communicate with you boss, then find a mentor, someone you can trust, that can atleast listen.

4. Understand your areas of vulnerability – For instance you’re stressed by certain work situations or feel relatively weaker in a skill area. Talking this through is a key step to developing coping mechanisms and reducing stress.

5. Are you being fair with yourself – So much of the causes of stress relate to our own standards and expectations, our perceived feelings that we are either simply failing or more insidious, we are failing relative to are peers.’ The best antidote to this is to understand that it’s extremely difficult to have a ‘fair’ like-for-like comparison with your peers. So, the best course is to avoid the comparisons. I know, easier said than done.

6. Set yourself up to succeed – Much of the cause of work-related stress is related to helplessness. So, break your work down and set yourself discrete goals that can be achieved. It’s not the whole job, but feeling you are progressing on some level is key.

7. Goal Setting – If the goals are causing the angst, let those that need to know why they will be difficult to achieve.

Away From Work

1. Non-work mentor – Talking with someone that is not vested in your workplace, that can listen to you without an agenda. If nothing else, this an opportunity to be actively heard.

2. Exploratory meetings – There’s nothing worse than feeling trapped and undervalued. Having exploratory meetings with other potential employers will often reveal both that you’re not trapped in your current role and that your expertise and experience is valued in the marketplace. If nothing else you will feel more confident at work knowing you could work elsewhere.

3. De-Stress – If you’re working crazy hours often you can’t find time, but whether burning up emotional energy on the treadmill or releasing safety valves via tai chi, the safety valve needs to be released!

4. The power of the ‘all absorbing’ – Pursue an interest/s that completely absorbs your mind so freeing it from thinking about work. Having a ‘real break’ is a key ingredient in the positive mental health of those that seem to be able to compartmentalize different areas of their lives. As a priority, find what allows you to switch off.

What woud you suggest as the one key thing to do in managing or mitigating the effects of stress?

Are you a good listener? For communication to even be functional, a number of steps are required. Effective listening is one of them yet an underrated skill as where in the curriculum is it taught yet,

“Every human being needs to listen consistently in order to live fully.” (J. Treasure).

Yet, even if you are an ‘all-star’ listener, remember what you’re hearing has everything to do with what ‘you’ may have already communicated.

So, when you are not hearing the response you want from others, don’t make your first act to question them better, take responsibility and perhaps listen with the context in mind and with greater focus.

Some thoughts resonate more than others from conversations with account planners/creative strategists.

Don’t wait for others to bring you a job – Know what you want from your next job and why you want or need it, learning/growth opportunity to the fore of your calculus.

Don’t take any job or a job for the wrong reasons
– You can never outrun the frying pan! If things don’t work out where you are, stop, reflect, conceive a plan and then have a concrete reasoning for the next job you accept.

Know why you will be a success in the new job
– If you don’t know with some confidence why you should better still will succeed, don’t pursue the job.

Know why you could fail in the new job
– Perhaps the culture gives you pause for thought or your potential new boss? Key is to have mandatory things aspects of the job you’re considering , such as an employer that values the role of strategy! Or perhaps a client known for buying great work, or a place with high quality creative output. Know what’s key for you and where the trade-offs are.

Know who can help make you a success as well as who could prevent it
– Meet those people the interviewing agency/consultancy want you to meet ; Also, ask to meet anyone else you feel that our key to your success and know having met them you are making a truly informed decision.

Know that you never have enough information about your future job
– The clients you will be working with, the personalities of all key stakeholders, the hidden skeletons relating to the relationship with the client. You can never ask enough questions, so ask away. And even when you ask all the questions, you will never have perfect information as things constantly change, but you should still ask away!
Accept change as an inevitable factor and that it is your choice to accept and embrace it or to try and obstruct it. If the latter approach, ensure your stance is on the side of current if not future revenue.

The ability to understand someone else’s perspective doesn’t necessarily make you the smartest or the nicest person in the room (although empathetic souls are usually high on both counts) but empathy is an increasingly important skill to have particularly for a strategic planner, but actually for anyone!
A huge congratulations to Chorong Kim, this years VCU winner of the Parkin ‘Empathy Award,’ which goes to the most empathetic MSc Branding graduate. The award is judged by the students on the course as well as the strategists that teach the course; (Not the school; Not SPARKIN)
It was also a great pleasure to have lunch with Chorong and two other graduates, who always inspire me.

What is a brand if not something that ‘solves a problem’ you have or in some way helps you to take a step toward the life that you want? Above all else the key words we all want to experience with any product or service we acquire are, ‘rely on.’ And, great brands are the most reliable and have great reputations.

In the world of entertainment, you can rely on the ‘The Rolling Stones’ to rock your world. Similarly in the sporting world, Roger Federer can be relied on to provide a tennis masterclass. In turn, ‘The Stones’ and ‘Federer’s reputations are leveraged by food, cosmetics, apparel and beverage companies, amongst others, to amplify the reputations of those company’s products and services.

Despite people obviously acting as brands, some in the advertising world are queasy about the idea of ordinary individuals ‘acting’ to promote themselves believing it to be borderline narcissism. Business and brands products don’t rely on word of mouth and actively shout, ‘look what we have,’ ‘consider us,’ ‘we can help you.’ We don’t think of this as narcissistic as those entities are providing something that might have value to others. And this is key. Making others aware of a skill you have that can help them, is not seeking attention for attentions sake, which is narcisscim.

Key Considerations for You Thinking Like a Brand

1. Seek Greater Recognition – Just because people (or products or services) are not famous for doing something well, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t act with the intent of achieving greater recognition. That’s simply good business!

2. Great Work Alone Is Not Enough – Great brands deliver compelling solutions but they don’t rely purely on third party recommendation – Doing great work should speak for itself. In theory great products or services should dominate; Word of mouth should be enough but smart companies don’t rely on it, and nor should you.

3. Tell Your Story – Long term career management is today atypical – As companies become progressively more transactional in their operations, in their hiring and firing of talent, so they become less focused on the development of your career. Unless you are fortunate to have a great boss or engaged HR team, it becomes imperative, for you to tell your story/ (as well as doing a great job)

4. Provide a differentiated offering – Telling a story is important, but telling one that showcases your ’adding value’ is key! Highlight what differentiates your expertise. Do something brilliantly and ideally something creative and unique.

5. Be consistent – In all matters relating to the delivery, aim to provide a consistency of service or product quality, whether providing the service as an employee or a business.

6. Non- believers of the ‘Personal Brand.’ – If you don’t believe you might benefit from thinking and building your brand, think instead about your reputation with others.

Reputation Management

A great reputation with others might be the difference between you getting or not getting an amazing career opportunity you’ve always wanted, so it’s key that you have a good one!

1 Understand the reputation you have and why you have it – Do you have a great reputation only because of what you do and those that have experienced it? Or,

2. Is your reputation stellar because of third party recommendation, because of those that have been told what you’ve done whilst not having experienced your product or service directly?

3. Shock News/Double whammy – Doing a great job combined with effective promotion is the double whammy that leads to an enhanced reputation. Companies build brands and businesses by doing both!

4. Great reputations lead to more work and more opportunities – If you can handle the fact that you have a reputation to manage, you may well be close to navigating the short stroll to acting like a brand.

For more reading on this subject check out the latest ‘Narrate’ – https://bit.ly/2NdQwTh

Does advertising have a bright future? If we’re talking about doing things the way they have always been done without changes, then yes, the future is bleak. And where change isn’t happening fast, that’s because the agency still makes enough money doing things in the same old way.

If however we’re talking about ‘back to the future’ on some level, where agencies focus more on investing in talent and culture, things are a little less transactional and about hiring and firing at will, things can be good.

There are some agencies that have found more balance between short term profit and creating a great place to work. These are also places that have crossed the rubicon and evolved a new way to make money, one typically either more integrated in the focus of the outputs or have a brand experience focus in mind, typically the same thing.

So what degree of confidence should you have in your current role?

Some of the questions that will clarify this for you. What are the outputs of your agency? What does it offer and how well does it deliver on the promise? And, how committed it is to a short-term P&L versus investing in the medium and longer term? Is it an agency more focused on relationships and partnerships than making the next quarters’ numbers? Of course whatever the place you work, how positive you can be does depend hugely on the value you provide.

The Market

Companies/In-House Agencies – There are some solid examples where in-house works but in many more cases it hasn’t in large part because the move to developing in-house agencies has been driven by procurement. The reason why most companies work with agencies is because they are seeking creative thinking borne of creative cultures. Simply bringing creative talent client-side does not in itself make for a create environment and so agencies will still be needed.

Consultancies – Perceived as a short-term threat to agencies, they have compelled the agency business to become more business focused. Even without consultancies, the emergence of digital channels created the transparency and immediacy of results for clients which called for a transformation of the agency business.

Agency Leadership/Quality of Thinking – The reason why the agency business hasn’t innovated is not because there isn’t the strategic thinking to know what needs to be done; It’s not due to a lack of strategic or business savvy. It’s actually because the agency business still makes a lot of money, particularly the holding companies, that don’t want still very profitably run agencies to change, even if their focus is one or a few channels. (This hasn’t been without huge impact on employee salaries and job security). The good news is, the business does have the quality of people needed to successfully navigate the business forward. It’s the business model that’s the problem.

Creativity Rules – There will continue to be huge uncertainty over the next few years as agencies adjust. That said, there is a greater need than ever to find creative ways to get people engaged with products/services. New integrated marketing agencies will and are appearing. Ones that are as much about targeting algorithms as they are at impacting consumer actions. But above all else creative thinking will remain key.

Why I’m Optimistic?

Consumers – Are not going away. People still wish to be made aware of new products and services; There will always be a need for storytelling, the essence of great communications; And creative engagement, whatever the channel (pre/at/post sale) is as much about the future as it is mobile.

How Well Positioned Are You Where You Currently Work?

Your Organization – If it’s an integrated agency, you are much better positioned than if it’s not. Conversely if there is a focus on one or more channels, pick a leader in the field.

Your Expertise – If you are an effective strategist or creative, great at understanding consumers, great at building business, you should be good.

Timeframe – In the short term, whatever you do there will be uncertainty as even if you do a great job, and even if you are part of an integrated organization, it in turn is part of an industry and culture experiencing seismic change.

Personal Growth – If you are someone that welcomes variety, constant learning and new challenges, you are more likely to successfully navigate forward. If you don’t know what skills you should develop/what makes you most marketable, contact me and I will try and help.

‘Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world’ (Gustav Flaubert)
So true Gustav, but living in the moment in your daily life also allows for quality of experience, engagement and thereafter, true understanding.
Beautiful Friday it is in NYC, happy weekends one and all.#Living#Inthemoment#Understanding#Travelathome#SPARKIN